Archive for the ‘historical romance’ Category

 

Today I am sharing an excerpt from The Red Slippers by USA Today Bestselling author Ruth A. Casie. This historical romance is a standalone novella in her Druid Knight series. Grab some hot cocoa and check out the Red Slippers and be sure to enter the giveaway!

The Red Slippers

 

It would take magic for Cosette to believe in her abilities.

It would take Avery to conjure up the spell.

Cosette Binet has dreams of being a ballerina. When she learns the Paris Opera Ballet needs additional dancers, she applies. While practicing for her audition, she dances into the arms of the handsome artistic director and dancer, Avery Dubois. The subsequent audition is magical. It is a dream come true.

Avery Dubois is enchanted by Cosette and impressed with her talent. He offers her a well-deserved place in the corps de ballet. His keen eye sees a great dancer as well as a woman he could love.

Cosette captivates the audiences as she has captivated Avery’s heart. She is chosen to dance more roles but is plagued with doubt. When she has difficulty dancing she is sure she is not good enough for the ballet or for Avery. But Avery believes her doubt is a self-fulling prophecy. While trying to help her, he comes upon a pair of worn red ballet slippers. He gives them to Cosette telling her they are the shoes of a great dancer and are filled with magic.

Do the red slippers hold the magic to make Cosette a great ballerina and remove her doubts about Avery’s love?

*available in KindleUnlimited

Check out this peek inside:

 

Tomorrow. Once the performance was over, everything would end. No more Suzanne, which was a welcome relief. But no more dancing. No more Avery.

Cosette turned to say goodnight, but the passion in his eyes stopped her.

He took her in his arms and cupped her head. His gaze was a soft caress. She was afraid to move. Afraid she would break the spell.

“You are dear to me, princess.”

Her heart wasn’t doing pirouettes. It was beating a quick staccato tempo. Her eyes closed. She waited. Anticipated.

Soft velvet lips covered hers. There was no resisting him. His kiss sent a shudder through her, tossing her mind in a wild swirl and taking her body with it. She put her arms around him and pulled him closer shocked by her own eager response.

Please, don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.

He raised his mouth from hers. The cool air touched her lips that still burned for him. The passion and tenderness that filled his eyes fanned the fire of desire.

For several heartbeats neither of them moved. Neither wanted to say good night. Over the weeks, the eagerness to be with him hadn’t subsided. It grew stronger. This couldn’t be the end. The very thought brought her to tears.

He leaned his forehead against hers. “Sleep well tonight. Tomorrow will be here soon. I can’t wait to see you dance. But, princess, I don’t want tomorrow to be the end of our time together.”

Her heart shuddered and her pulse pounded as he voiced what she was feeling.

“Neither do I.” Her voice was a whisper.

About Author Ruth A. Casie

RUTH A. CASIE is a USA Today bestselling author of historical swashbuckling action-adventures and contemporary romance with enough action to keep you turning pages. Her stories feature strong women and the men who deserve them, endearing flaws and all. She lives in New Jersey with her hero, three empty bedrooms and a growing number of incomplete counted cross-stitch projects. Before she found her voice, she was a speech therapist (pun intended), client liaison for a corrugated manufacturer, and vice president at an international bank where she was a product/marketing manager, but her favorite job is the one she’s doing now-writing romance. She hopes her stories become your favorite adventures.

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One lucky winner will win a signed copy of The Knight of Runes (Book 1 in the Druid Knight Series). If an international winner is drawn, they will receive a $10 gift card and signed bookplate. Giveaway ends December 7, 2022.


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For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

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Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Irresistible organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author Darcy Burke will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Don’t forget to enter!

And you can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Irresistible

by Darcy Burke

Genre: Historical Romance (Regency)

Synopsis

Jessamine Goodfellow has spent six Seasons avoiding the parson’s trap, and spinsterhood is finally within her grasp. A brilliant scholar, she longs for adventure and new experiences, things her family frowns upon. Presented with the opportunity to use her puzzle-solving talent on a secret mission for the Foreign Office, Jess eagerly accepts. Even when it means posing as the wife of a scorchingly attractive Scotsman who she must also covertly investigate as a possible double agent.

 

Lord Dougal MacNair, the new Viscount Fallin, has always completed his assignments for the Foreign Office alone. Now he’s saddled with an overly enthusiastic amateur partner. She possesses a remarkable intellect, but something about her isn’t quite right, and after two failed missions, Dougal is certain someone is working against him. Battling their secret suspicions, Dougal and Jess dive deep into their cover as a married couple, which arouses temptations they find irresistible. Danger is all around them, but it’s their hearts that may be the most imperiled.

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Enjoy this peek inside:

“Have you ever given up on a cryptogram?”

 

“No.”

 

“And I imagine some of them weren’t easy.”

 

She exhaled. “No, they were not.”

 

“I assumed as much. I know you, Jess, and you’re tenacious.”

 

“We haven’t even known each other a fortnight,” she scoffed. “Not officially anyway.”

 

“What does that mean, ‘officially’?”

 

She took a generous drink of brandy. “We have met before. Four years ago. I remember it distinctly.”

 

“Four years ago?” Damn, now he felt terrible. “How can you be sure?”

 

She gave him a haughty look of certainty that quite frankly pricked his desire. “Because I am. You asked me to dance at the Edgemont Ball.”

 

He’d danced with her. Four years ago. And never again. Worse, he didn’t remember it. He was an absolute cad. “I should have remembered you. I can’t imagine why I didn’t.” he said softly.

 

Sentiment, which he preferred to indulge in small, manageable doses, threatened to send him to her chair, to take her hand and beg her forgiveness. A husband would do that. A lover. He was neither and since they were alone, there was no reason to continue the pretense. Only, he was fairly certain he was no longer pretending.

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About Author Darcy Burke

Darcy Burke is the USA Today Bestselling Author of sexy, emotional historical and contemporary romance. Darcy wrote her first book at age 11, a happily ever after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan who loved him, with exceedingly poor illustrations. Click here to Join her Reader Club.

 

A native Oregonian, Darcy lives on the edge of wine country with her guitar-strumming husband, artist daughter, and imaginative son who will almost certainly out-write her one day (that may be tomorrow).

 

They’re a crazy cat family with two Bengal cats, a small, fame-seeking cat named after a fruit, an older rescue Maine Coon with attitude to spare, and a collection of neighbor cats who hang out on the deck and occasionally venture inside. You can find Darcy at a winery, in her comfy writing chair, or binge-watching TV with the family.

 

Her happy places are Disneyland, Labor Day weekend at the Gorge, Denmark, and anywhere in the UK—so long as her family is there too.

 

Social Links: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / BookBub / Goodreads

Reader Group Newsletter / Darcy’s Duchesses Facebook Group

 

IMPOSSIBLE Buy Links: Amazon / AppleNook / Kobo

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Violet’s Voice organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author Annee Jones will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Don’t forget to enter!

And you can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Violet’s Voice

The Reclusive Man

by Annee Jones

Genre: Christian Historical Western Romance

Synopsis

Her voice saved him once…. Is he strong enough now to return the favor?

Following the mine’s collapse, Damien Cross lay between life and death, drifting in and out of consciousness in the makeshift hospital bed. Suddenly a voice captured his attention – a woman was singing. It was the most beautiful song he’d ever heard. The lyrical notes stirred something deep inside of him, willing him to live. If he could just hang on to the angel’s voice a little longer…

Five years have passed since that fateful day, and Damien can no longer stand to be confined anywhere – or beholden to anyone. He much prefers the company of horses to humans. However, in his dreams he still hears the voice of the angel, like a salve for his bitter, broken heart. One day as he is walking past the town’s saloon on his way to the bank, the sounds of music within drifts outside, and a woman begins to sing. Shocked, Damien recognizes her voice – his angel.

Violet Lovelace is struggling to make ends meet following the carriage accident that claimed the life of her father and left her mother in a wheelchair. Teaching voice lessons to children isn’t enough to pay for the pain medication her mother so desperately needs. When Violet is offered a job singing at the local saloon, she accepts despite her misgivings. But what other choice does she have?

Join Damien and Violet on their journey of discovering the light of hope in the throes of darkness and the triumphant power of love.

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Enjoy this peek inside:

The late summer breeze felt wonderful against his heated face. He paused at the hitching post to take a deep breath.

 

“Well, Bluebell,” he said to the dappled mare as he unhooked the horse’s worn leather reins, “Guess that’s what I get for coming into town. A reminder that I’m not welcome here.”

 

Even the steady clip-clop of his beloved horse and the peaceful landscape around him did little to soften the constricted feeling around his heart as they made their way home.

 

That night, Damien lay in bed, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his low back and hip. It was always present. Thankfully during the day when he was working on the ranch with the yearlings he was too occupied to notice. However, it seemed the minute he walked indoors at suppertime he turned into a decrepit old man, limping around the house, fumbling at the stove, and angry at everything and nothing at the same time.

 

Punching his pillow, he rolled over onto his side. From this vantage point, he could see out the window, realizing he’d forgotten to pull the drapes before blowing out the light. He didn’t feel like going to the effort of rising to cover the glass now. Outside, the night was clear, and the sky was full of stars. They were clustered together in small groups. Were they mocking him with their twinkling? Perhaps even the stars didn’t want him.

 

He rolled onto his back and stared up at the darkness of the ceiling instead. His eyelids began to droop. As he sank into that space between wake and slumber known as the land of dreams, he heard the voice of the angel again, singing her same beautiful song. Having realized long ago that the voice probably just belonged to some nurse or caregiver at the hospital who helped tend to the injured miners after the mine’s collapse, he still felt grateful for the gift of her voice. He’d never forgotten it, and it continued to soothe him during lonely nights like this one. Relaxing into the music in his memory, sleep at last overtook him completely.

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About Author Annee Jones

Author Annee Jones loves to write all things romance, fantasy, cozy mystery, & more. She is passionate about writing stories where dreams come true, and love wins in the end!

Professionally, Annee works as a disability counselor where she helps her clients navigate through complex medical and legal systems while rediscovering their wholeness in Spirit.

 

Subscribe to Annee’s newsletter to stay up to date on new releases, sneak peeks, author parties, and exclusive giveaways HERE.

 

Find Annee’s books here: Website / Amazon / Goodreads / BookBub

 

Want to join Annee’s private Facebook reader group, Annee’s Angels?  Request your spot now HERE.

 

You can also connect with Annee on her FB author page HERE.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

The Burly-Que Girls: The 6
Linda Hughes
Publication date: December 26th 2021
Genres: Historical, Romance, Women’s Fiction

Get a front-row seat to classic striptease during the heyday of burlesque.

When former burlesque dancers Dolly O’Dare and her friends discover that their manager, Ballard “Balls” Benedict, has skipped town with their retirement funds, there’s no stopping the irate troupe from converging on Las Vegas to track down the scoundrel. But to rack up enough dough to hire a private dick, the six dames must sell their life stories in a steamy, hilarious, and – yes – sweet tell-all book.

They’ll do whatever it takes to find Balls and get their money back. After all, at this point in their lives, they’ve got nothing to lose. But along the way they discover that the real treasures are in zany old friendships, quirky new acquaintances, and maybe even a second-chance romance or two.

Join the fun and fall in love with these wildly wonderful women in this first book in the Burly-Q Girls series. You may end up doing a little hoochie-coochie dance to become a Burly-Q Girl yourself.

This work of fiction was inspired by real-life stories told to the author by her burly-que friends.

Goodreads / Amazon

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Enjoy this peek inside:

Suddenly, an impatient knock from outside assaulted the apartment door like a mobster’s Tommy gun. Rat-a-tat-tat. Rat-a-tat-tat.

“Who in hell …?” Ginger got up and opened the door.

Annie Fannie stood there in all her hoity-toity glory.

Ginger glared up at the tall, svelte woman, her shock evident. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Dressed in a designer outfit that no doubt cost more than Ginger’s entire wardrobe, hell, probably her entire apartment, the uninvited guest pressed the back of her hand to Ginger’s shoulder to nudge her aside. “Let me in. The heat out here is insufferable.” She came to an abrupt halt just inside the door, leaving Ginger stuck in the open threshold to deal with the heat. “Well, well, well. Look … at … this,” Annie snarled as she sauntered into the room and stood like a queen looking down her nose at her peons. “The whole gang is here. Hello, girls. It’s been a long time.”

Dolly huffed. “Not long enough.”

“Aren’t you going to invite me to sit down?”

“No, Annie, we’re not,” Ginger stated flatly.

“I haven’t gone by Annie since I quit performing. It’s Anastasia now.” She patted her dyed blond hair, making certain they noticed she had a chichi coif.

“I’m guessing you’ve never quit performing, one way or another.” Dolly stood up to face the interloper mano a mano.

Merry hopped up to join the line of defense.

“My, my. What hostility. What did I ever do to make you all so rudely hostile toward me?”

“Gee, Annie, I’m surprised you ask, because we know you don’t give a rat’s ass what we think.” Dolly balled up her fists and ground them into her hips, at the ready.

“As for the hostility,” Ginger seethed, thirty years of hot anger boiling up unexpectedly, “how about the fact that you lied to my boyfriend about me and stole him away? Huh? How about that?”

“Pfft. Please. He wasn’t worth having. I only dated him a few times. You could have had him back. Oh wait. I remember now. He went on to Pussy Willow after me. I guess he liked her … willow.” She smirked, amused at her supposed wit.

“You treated us like shit,” Dolly growled. “You insulted our costumes and our acts and even our bodies. Like you thought you were so much better than us.”

“Well …” Annie made the mistake of throwing her arms out wide and looking around the room. “I’ve certainly never lived in a hovel like this.”

That did it. Ginger flung herself at their tormenter, clawing at the viper’s haute couture dress and tearing it down to her waist.

“You little bitch!” Annie Fannie, once the most elegant of exotic dancers, turned out to be a formidable foe. She grabbed a handful of Ginger’s hair and with that they hit the floor, rolling around and throwing punches as best they could. Arms and legs flailed about at random, like a game of Whack-a-mole gone bad.

Dolly and Merry jumped into action, each snatching a brawler and yanking her away. Everybody got roughed up in the process. The Women’s Wrestling Association had nothing on them.

“Girls! Girls!” Dolly hollered. “This isn’t going to change anything.”

“Stop! Stop!” Merry yelled at the same time. “You’re both acting like Neanderthals.”

Once separated and on opposite sides of the room, the brutal enemies tried to kill each other with laser stares.

“Look at what you did to my dress. It’s ruined.” Annie slung the comment across the room. Her pink, embroidered, lacy, padded, underwire bra poked out at them.

“Yeah. Well, that’s nothing compared to what you did to my life. I loved Harold!” Ginger’s lower lip quivered as she shook a quaking finger at her nemesis.

Annie frowned, paused, then said, “His name was Howard.”

“No, it wasn’t! He was my Harold.”

“Ah, Ginger, honey.” Dolly’s gentle tone caused Ginger to look at her friend. “I remember him.”

They watched as awareness clicked in on Ginger’s face.

“As much as I hate to admit that Annie is right, his name was Howard,” Dolly reminded her.

Ginger looked to Merry for support, but all Merry could offer was a helpless shrug.

“Oh. Oh. Well. Yeah, sure. Now I remember.” Ginger straightened herself, patted her mussed up hair, casually sat down at the table, and calmly clasped her hands. “I knew that.”

“Now that we’ve done a brawling bump and grind down memory lane,” Annie chided, stuffing the torn edge of her dress up into her bra straps, “I’d like to get to the reason for my visit and then get out of this dump as quickly as possible.”

“Do tell,” Dolly said. “Why in hell are you here?”

 

Author Linda Hughes

Happy endings and new beginnings – but not as you expect. Even better. That’s what Linda Hughes’ books are all about, whether historical romantic suspense, mystery, or second chance romance.

When Linda was 12 years old she wrote in her diary that she would be a “writter” when she grew up. With 20 books and a passel of writing awards, her dream has come true. She is a #1 bestselling co-author.

So browse around on her page. Find something that’s just right for you. That 12-year-old with big dreams, who still lives within Linda, is delighted.

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub

 

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Ella organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.

Author Fraser will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B&N Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

You can click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Ella

by Nancy Fraser

Ella: Prairie Roses Collection - Book 12 by [Nancy Fraser]

Genre: Sweet/Inspirational Western Historical Romance

Synsopsis

To get away from her late husband’s questionable deeds, Ella Winslow takes her three children and heads west to the unsettled Washington Territory to claim land she believes she’s inherited from her father.

Tucker McAlister was fired from his position as deputy marshal for arresting the mayor’s brother-in-law for spousal abuse. His mentor has found him another job, first escorting the wagon train going west, and then as the new marshal in the growing town of Tacoma, Washington Territory.

The trail is long and hard, yet Ella is more than up to the task. Still, Tuck feels the need to watch over her and her children, whether she wants him to or not. It isn’t until they arrive in Washington that he realizes his protection will now need to extend even further than the wagon train itself.

Will Ella’s faith allow her to trust again and make a safe home for her family, while welcoming Tuck into her heart?

Enjoy this peek inside:

Over the course of the next five days, both she and Thomas took turns working with Connor to learn the most efficient way of harnessing the four large Percheron horses to the wagon. Then, right on schedule, they pulled the oversized, custom-made, wagon out into the yard behind the farmhouse.

Connor had attached the canvas cover at the last minute, the enclosure making the huge prairie-schooner all the more impressive. Her father had truly outdone himself with the vessel they’d christened Miller’s Folly.

“It’s time to finish loading everything so we can get on the road,” Ella announced, her words sending all three children scurrying toward their rooms in search of their belongings.

“I’ve loaded the food stores into the bottom bins so you won’t have to lift them down. You can just open the lid and scoop out what you need,” Connor reminded her. “Your sewing supplies are in the smaller bin right above your treadle machine.”

“You’ve anchored it to the side of the wagon?”

“As tight as I could. You’ll still need to be careful because it’s heavy. Make sure you check the ropes every day to see that the knot is taut.”

“I will. I promise.” The very last thing she wanted was to damage the one thing she’d need in order to earn money for her family once they’d reached their new home.

“I’ve stored the horses’ supplemental feed in the compartments father built along the outside of the wagon, and placed an extra set of tack in the compartment under the wagon bed next to the water barrels.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with my selling the horses once we’ve reached our destination? After all, they were left to you too.”

Connor slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side. “I got the farm as my part of our inheritance. You wanted the deed, the wagon, and the horses, so they’re yours. I’d bet you’ll get a pretty penny for them—and the wagon—once you no longer need them anymore.”

“I’d like to hang onto the wagon, if I can,” she admitted. “As a memento of sorts, I suppose.”

“Whatever you decide is up to you. Heaven knows there’s enough hardwood in that thing to heat a small hearth for months.”

She swatted at his arm. “I’ll not be burning it either, no matter what.”

By half-past eight, with everything loaded, and hugs given to their aunt, Jacob and Callie held out their arms for Connor to boost them into the back of the wagon before he closed and tied down the flaps. Thomas took his seat at the front, next to his mother.

“If it feels like the horses are getting away from you, pull them up as best as you can,” Connor instructed. “Are you sure I can’t ride in the wagon with you?”

“I need to know I can do this myself, without you there to grab the reins away from me.”

Connor’s deep chuckle was his first show of humor in days. “Fine, but I’ll be right behind you.”

“You really don’t have to follow us all the way to St. Joseph,” she reminded him. “It’s only a day’s ride. We’ll be there by nightfall.”

“I’m not doing this for you,” he clarified. “It’s for me. I’d worry myself to an early grave if I let you go off not knowing for sure you could handle the team.”

“Well then, mount up, because I’m pulling out.” Ella snapped the reins, and the horses surged forward. The wagon shuddered, then settled, the big wheels rolling smoothly over the dirt.

About Author Nancy Fraser:

Nancy Fraser is a best-selling and award-winning author who happily jumps across multiple romance genres with gleeful abandon.

She’s also the granddaughter of a Methodist minister known for his fire-and-brimstone approach to his faith. Nancy has brought some of his spirit into her Christian romances. And, her own off-beat sense of humor to her clean & wholesome books.

When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five wonderful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.

Website
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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE.

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Born For This

A Maizemerized Tale Book 1

by Maggie Blackbird

Genre: Historical Time Travel Romance, Paranormal

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She’s always been obsessed with her ancestors, and now he’s offering her a chance to live with them…forever.

Second-year university student Edie Whitecrow gobbles up each course on Indigenous studies. If only she could experience the lives of her Anishinaabe ancestors instead of reading about them. On her way to a Halloween party decked out as a historical Ojibway maiden, she spies a corn maze in a spot known to be barren.

A scarecrow figure beckons Edie to enter with the enticing offer of making her biggest wish come true. She jumps at the chance and finds herself in the past, face to face with the man who haunts her dreams—the handsome brave Thunder Bear. He claims he’s spent twelve years waiting for Gitchi Manidoo to send her to him.

Life in the eighteenth century isn’t what Edie romanticized about, though. When her conscience is tested, she must choose between the modern day or the world of her descendants—where the man she was born for resides.

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Thunder Bear nodded. “Fire Woman. Is it not an appropriate name? The flames did not burn you. Fire is your friend. Your spirit guide.”

“I want to be honest.” She wet her plush mouth with the color riper than raspberries. “I have been educated in the ways of the white men. Where I come from, we live like white men.”

“I know you do. It is in your speech, your movement, your behavior.” He reached out and touched her bare arm that possessed delicate strength beneath the smooth flesh he palmed. “You are here to become what you are meant to truly be. We will teach you, if you are willing.”

“I am more than willing. In the white man’s world, I am learning everything about the People. I have studied the People ever since I was a little girl.”

“I know you have. It is why you came.” He could not resist letting his palm move along her arm. Beneath the skin he stroked, her slight muscle flexed.

She wet her lips.

The urge to claim her mouth was a test of his restraint. They’d only met this morning, and he must go slow. To slide his mouth over hers after just meeting was not how a warrior conducted himself. Yet, the way she’d drew her tongue along her lower lip was caressing and licking him beneath his breechclout. Her innocent gesture might as well have been her nails raking his backside, her hands boldly exploring his arms, and her breasts melting against his chest.

She was aptly named, because a fire danced in her sparkling dark eyes. A fire of desire. A fire of need. A fire flickering with mesmerization in her gaze touching his face.

He stifled the groan aching to leave his throat.

She seemed to drag her gaze to the dark water. If where they stood was better lit, he’d probably witness redness on her cheeks.

“What is it?”

Again, she wet her lips. “I… Maybe I should go back?”

A punch seemed to knock his gut. “Return? Now?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I mean the wigwam. Not the…the…”

“The dancing flames?”

She nodded.

Relief loosened the knots of his shoulder muscles. He didn’t believe in restraining any maiden, but if she had dared to run for where she had come from, he probably would have tossed her over his shoulder and carted her back to the camp. Now that he had found what he’d waited twelve years to capture, he wasn’t letting her go.

Somehow, he had to help her find her courage to survive with them. She was destined to be here.

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Nine For a Kiss

A Maizemerized Tale Book 2

by D.S. Dehel

Genre: Paranormal Romance

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Just one perfect day.

Nothing has gone right in Sadie Lyons’s life since the accident, but she’s trying her best to get back to normal. She’s just not sure if the trip to the old apple orchard was the best decision, and the creepy corn maze run by the even creepier owner confirms her fears. Inside, the maze is even worse, and she’s soon lost in a never-ending labyrinth that twists and turns but goes nowhere.

When a raven joins her as a guide, she feels better, but like the maze, the raven is not what he seems, and the news he brings her changes everything.

Love and loss intertwine in this tale of the endings and beginnings we all face.

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This passage was short compared to the others she’d traversed so far, maybe seventy-five feet long, terminating in a dead end. The dark shape leaned against the wall of the maze, clinging onto a stalk with one hand. The other clutched to his side.

“Hello.” The voice was raspy and undeniably masculine.

“Are you alright?” She took two steps.

“Um.” Then he collapsed, falling to his knees, palms against the ground.

“Oh god.” She dashed forward, ignoring the little voice that insisted it could be a trap. “Are you hurt?”

He shook his head as if clearing it. His longish hair covered his face. “No. Not hurt.” He seemed to be struggling to find the words.

Indecision rocked her. Usually, she wasn’t so suspicious, but everything had changed that night. But someone helped me.

Lots of someones. I need to return the favor.

She knelt beside him, dipping her head to see the face hidden by the dark hair. Sharp nose, pale skin, and dark  lashes fringed his closed eyes. “Can I help?”

“Help how?” His voice rasped, making her wince.

Water. “Here.” She dug the bottle out of her pocket and held it out. “I don’t have germs, well, not so many.” She’d been on antibiotics forever. “Sorry it’s warm.”

For a moment, she thought he’d reject her offering because he looked from her hand to her face and back again. Then he sat back on his heels and brushed off his hands before taking the proffered bottle. “Thank you.”

He ran a hand through his hair, drawing it back into a low ponytail, then dropping it. The move revealed sharp cheekbones and skin strangely free of stubble for someone with such dark hair. No trace lined his jaw. He twisted off the cap, raised the bottle to red lips, and took a deep drink.

Now that’s a neck. She watched his Adam’s apple move as he finished her water. I need to stop staring. So, she stood up and brushed the fine dirt off her hands.

As he climbed to his feet, she took in his outfit consisting of dark, ripped jeans, a black short-sleeved shirt, topped by a black leather vest, and fingerless gloves, also black. Heavy black boots completed the ensemble, making him look like a rocker from the 1980s.

“Thank you,” he repeated, then he looked at the bottle in his hand. “I seem to have finished your water.” Regret flashed in his eyes. “I am very sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” She waved him off. “You obviously needed it. Your voice sounds better.”

“Ah.” He cleared his throat. “I am not used to using it much.”

“You’ve been lost for eons in this maze?” She’d meant it as a tease, but the look on his face crushed the humor.

“Eons?” he scoffed, then his smile lit up the day. “No, not quite so long.”

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An Ojibway from Northwestern Ontario, Maggie Blackbird resides in the country with her husband and their fur babies, two beautiful Alaskan Malamutes. When she’s not writing, she can be found pulling weeds in the flower beds, mowing the huge lawn, walking the Mals deep in the bush, teeing up a ball at the golf course, fishing in the boat for walleye, or sitting on the deck at her sister’s house, making more wonderful memories with the people she loves most.

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

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D.S. Dehel is a lover of words, wine, and the Oxford comma. When she’s not immersed in a book, she is a mom to her four kids and her spoiled feline Mr. Darcy or two pampered pooches: Piper and Jaime. Having “retired” she spends her days dreaming up new plot lines and word smiting for hours on end. She adores literary allusions, hot sex scenes, and British men. Her husband is still convinced she writes children’s books. Please don’t enlighten him.

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

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Today I am excited to join The Audio Flow in sharing A Scene In Time by Jessica A. Clements. Narrated by Marnye Young, Allyson Voller, and Taylor Meskimen, this is the first audiobook in The Wellesley/O’Brien Saga.

A Scene in Time

by Jessica A. Clements

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Adam, a Southern gentleman, knew the call to arms was near when President Lincoln asked for 100,000 men to stop secession and rebellion in the South. He joined the Union Cavalry – but not before he married his best, and only, friend.

Abby, an Irish immigrant that settled with her family in Virginia, was as Southern as you could get. When her husband announces that he had joined the Union cavalry, she couldn’t believe what she heard. She supported the decision of the one person that she loved more than the world itself.

As the war raged on, things weren’t always as they seemed. Abby’s sisters joined in the Southern cause, working to keep the way of life that the South had always had. Through grief, pain, and battles Abby keeps to the one place that she felt closest to her husband – the cottage that their families had given them.

A scene in time. An epic battle. And a tale of how love (through all of its forms) can transcend life and death.

Audible | Amazon | Goodreads

About Author Jessica A. Clements

Jessica A. Clements writes historical romances set during the US Civil War and the Regency Eras. When she is not writing she can be found playing with her son, composing music, playing in a band, and working her day job.

One of the many things she loves to do with her son is travel to new historical places. They have been to Custer’s Battlefield, Saint Augustine, Savannah, and a couple of smaller battlefields in Alabama. They hope to be able to add to their list soon.

Website | Twitter Instagram | Facebook

Giveaway


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Today I am excited to share the release of Historical Serenade: Seven Tales of Romance. This collection of historical romances will transport you from the comfort of your home. For a limited time you can own the digital edition for 99 cents. It is also available for Kindle Unlimited. Learn more, order your copy, and enter the celebratory giveaway!

Historical Serenade: Seven Tales of Romance

From authors Lane McFarland, April Holthaus, Barbara Bettis, Dawn Marie Hamilton, Karen Muir, Ria Cantrell, and Ruth A. Casie comes a collection of Historical and Time Travel Romances.

Let them serenade you with their spell-binding tales filled with danger, deception, revenge, honor and passion as we take you back in time on a journey spanning the Medieval Highlands through England’s Golden Age to North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains.

HEART OF THE HIGHLANDS: THE RAVEN by April Holthaus

As the king’s personal guard, Eamon MacLeish’s loyalty has never been questioned until a mysterious lass seeks an asylum for a crime, she claims she did not commit. Adelyn Scott would welcome death over marriage but had no idea her wish would come true when she discovers her husband’s body on the night of their wedding.

As Adelyn and Eamon piece together clues surrounding her husband’s murder, Eamon must choose between his loyalty or his heart.

SILVERHAWK by Barbara Bettis

Seeking revenge again his father, Sir Giles kidnaps the man’s young betrothed, only to find himself thwarting her repeated escape efforts. Lady Emelin won’t let a blasted mercenary destroy her last chance at a home and family, yet when she learns they must track down English traitors, she reluctantly assists. Eluding searchers and enemies like, Giles and Emelin discover that their past goals don’t matter; only a future together will do.

JUST WITHIN A HIGHLAND MIST by Dawn Marie Hamilton

A trio of pesky pixies have plans for Gregor MacLachlan’s heart. While hunting, a wayward shot from his bow nearly hits a strange lass who appears as if by magic. Emily Smith follows a child in her care onto a forbidden mound in the woods and wakes in a strange bed, in a place and time not her own. Can she find love in the arms of the dark-eyed stranger who becomes her champion?

DAGGER’S DESTINY by Karen Muir

In Medieval England, after Lady Katherine de Grey’s family is murdered, she is rescued by a childhood friend, Sir Richard Weston, and they are forced to marry. Richard resents the edict and intends to petition for an annulment. But, Katherine has other plans. With each caress of her dagger, she empowers herself to fight for her destiny. All she has to do is convince her new husband that the woman he truly desires is already his wife.

TO LOVE AN IMPOSTOR by Lane McFarland

Disguised as Nicholas Barlow, a ruthless, old businessman during the day, the Flintlock Brigand’s leader at night, and Captain Randolf, in between, Nicholas ruins constables who failed to show Bristol’s orphans mercy.

Diana Fleming, daughter of Bristol’s wealthiest gentry, returns to beg her father for help raising of ten orphaned children, but instead discovers her father died because of Nicholas Barlow. Now penniless and desperate, she’s determined to destroy the man who murdered her father.

CELTIC PERIL by Ria Cantrell

Tom Callum landed a spot with Celtic Storm as the lead singer and front man. When he reaches Scotland, he is drawn to seek his heritage and uncover the mysteries of his past. He is fascinated with a painting of a girl, Jenna Brandham of the Clan MacCollum, who lived more than six hundred years ago. Jenna tugs at his long forgotten memory. Tom will soon be plunged into a world of intrigue, deception and peril. The past and present collide in an adventure that brings danger at every turn. Only love will give Tom the strength he needs to thwart an attempt on King Richard’s life. Will Tom be able to survive his leap into the past? Will he be able to survive his return to the present, only to leave his heart behind?

THE MAXWELL GHOST by Ruth A. Casie

Traitors, deception, murders and ghosts run rampant at Caerlaverock Castle. Jamie Collins and Laura Reynolds, long-time friends find their destinies intertwined with hidden passions, but all is in jeopardy when Laura becomes the murderer’s next target. Jamie will find he needs some ghostly assistance to save Laura and declare his love. No magic…a love that lasts an eternity.

99 cent Boxed Set 7 Romances

Available in Kindle Unlimited 
Returns to $4.99 price April 30th, 2020

Enter the Giveaway

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For a list of my reviews go HERE.

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The Carousel
The Wild Geese Book 7
by Cynthia Owens
Genre: Historical Romance
 
Like the Wild Geese of Old Ireland, five boys grew to manhood despite
hunger, war, and the mean  
streets of New York
The War had left him blind to beauty…
Kieran Donnelly is a gifted artist who has sworn never to paint again. He
saw and did too many things during the war to extinguish the ugliness
that lies in his heart. But a chance to work with some of the most
magnificent paintings brings him close to the world he still
loves…and an extraordinary woman who sees his true heart.
Darkness couldn’t extinguish the light in her heart.
Blind from the age of four, Emily Lawrence yearns to experience the outside
world. When she hires Kieran Donnelly to catalogue her father’s
paintings, he offers her a glimpse at life outside her exquisite
home…and a chance for a future.
Can Kieran and Emily emerge from the darkness to find happiness and love?
**easily read as a standalone!**
 
 
I believe I was destined to be interested in history. One of my distant
ancestors, Thomas Aubert, reportedly sailed up the St. Lawrence River
to discover Canada some 26 years before Jacques Cartier’s 1534
voyage. Another relative was a 17thCentury “King’s Girl,”
one of a group of young unmarried girls sent to New France (now the
province of Quebec) as brides for the habitants (settlers) there. My
passion for reading made me long to write books like the ones I
enjoyed, and I tried penning sequels to my favorite Nancy Drew
mysteries. Later, fancying myself a female version of Andrew Lloyd
Weber, I drafted a musical set in Paris during WWII.
A former journalist and lifelong Celtophile, I enjoyed a previous
career as a reporter/editor for a small chain of community newspapers
before returning to my first love, romantic fiction. My stories
usually include an Irish setting, hero or heroine, and sometimes all
three!
I am a member of the Romance Writers of America, Hearts Through History
Romance Writers, and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers. A lifelong
resident of Montreal, Canada, I still live there with my own Celtic
hero and our two teenaged children.
 
 
Follow the tour HERE
for exclusive content and a giveaway!
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

You can find a list of my reviews HERE.

For a list of free eBooks go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.

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Most Ardently
An Austen-Inspired Christmas Collection
Genre: Historical Romance
With Stories by:
Sheena Austin,
Margo Bond Collins,
Debra-Ann Kummoung,
Sophie Bellabone,
Deborah E Pearson,
Charlene Johnson,
Susan Burdorf,
Claire
O’Dare,
Ivy Hearne
 
 
This is quite the season indeed for friendly meetings. At Christmas every
body invites their friends about them, and people think little of
even the worst weather. I was snowed up at a friend’s house once
for a week. Nothing could be pleasanter.” ~Emma
Join New York Times, USA Today, and International bestselling authors as
they share stories inspired by Jane Austen to fill your Yuletide with
love and joy.
From a Regency holiday in Austen’s own home to modern stories with a
supernatural twist, Most Ardently brings you the best of
Austen-inspired holiday fiction, including a haunted modern-day
Northanger academy dorm, a vampiric surprise at a holiday ball, a
contemporary dating-app-savvy Emma with a brand-new Knightley, a
surprise cast of zombies, and a demon set loose in Jane Austen’s
world. Mincemeat pies, Christmas puddings, Boxing Day and Twelfth
Night will never be the same again!
So light a Yule log, hang a kissing bough of evergreen and mistletoe,
and settle in for a long winter’s read as you reconnect with your
favorite Austen characters and settings in all-new new stories.
Scroll up and one-click to preorder this holiday collection now for the
special preorder price of only 99c!
On one side was a table occupied by some chattering girls, cutting up
silk and gold paper; and on the other were trestles and trays,
bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies, where riotous boys
were holding high revel; the whole completed by a roaring Christmas
fire, which seemed determined to be heard in spite of the noise of
the others.” ~Persuasion
**Pre-order for only .99cents!!**
 
 
 
 
Sheena Austin is the author of Returning
to Mr. Darcy, Alexandria, Journey of the Heart, and
Disillusionments of the Heart
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A lover of all romance, fantasy, cat whisperer, and Kermit obsessed, the author currently lives in Virginia with her boyfriend and two cats. She is a Special Education teacher and aspires to win
the lottery one day and to have a lifetime of pizza and cheez-its so she would no longer have to cook or do the dishes ever again.
 

USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times bestselling author Margo Bond Collins
is a former college English professor who, tired of explaining the difference between “hanged” and “hung,” turned to writing romance novels instead. (Sometimes her heroines kill monsters, too.)
She also writes under the alter ego of Ivy Hearne.
 
 
 
 
Debra-Ann Kummoung
I fell in love with Pride & Prejudice when I read it in high school. Something about that time – the courtly manners of society, the clothing, and so many other things. Don’t get me a wrong, I’m a modern girl and wouldn’t last a day without my modern conveniences, but I can still fantasize about that time period.
My husband is my inspiration for Mr. Darcy & Colonel Fitzwilliam (when the good colonel appears in one of my books). My husband has the manners of Darcy but has been a military man like the colonel –
so I got both in one man.
 
 
 
Sophie, whether with Kernstock or Bellabone
pen name, is from the land of thousands of lakes, home of Santa Claus, and technology giant Nokia, also known as Finland. At age 24 she was bitten by the publishing bug in her native tongue. The bug
bit so fiercly that she made her mission to publish all her future stories to wider audience just year after. That she did, and now at 25 her first book written in English is in preorder.
Born and rased with finnish sisu, and beaten in shape with sauna birch leaf brooms, Sophie writes Fantasy and Horror. No genre will be safe from her vigilant and witty writing style though. She will be providing all kinds of stories from short and sweet to long and gritty. None with romantic sub plot though. She focuses on platonic friendships, epic battles beyond tonsil fencing, and the endless ideas leading to world beyond imagination. In short, her muse is obiviously in drugs and needs intervention. Soon she’ll also add Sci-Fi/Dystopian into her fresh list of books and invites in new pen name to the Sophiesphere circle of things.
 
 
Deborah E. Pearson found her love of Jane
Austen’s work when she was 15 by watching the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice by Andrew Davies, Over the following years she not only read Miss Austen’s books multiple times but also read
several fan fiction books, which led her to begin writing her own Jane Austen Fan Fiction in 2010 as she wished to have a Darcy that fitted the way she saw him.
 
 
 
 
Charelne Johnson is a Waynesburg, Pennsylvania native. She went to Waynesburg High School and graduated Cum Laude from Waynesburg College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Arts. Currently lives in Sacramento,
California where she spent the last 33 years working at Northrop Grumman.
Books have always been her passion. She started reading at an early age and progressed to full-length books by age nine. The first supernatural
book series she read was Dark Shadows, and it sparked her interest in all things paranormal, with a spicy touch of romance mixed in for
good measure. She also started writing poetry in grade school and continues to do so today.
Being an avid reader, the consummate daydreamer and an incurable romantic
with a Cinderella complex, she started creating her own characters and story lines because she realized she had her own stories to tell.
She is married to John, who believes she can do anything. She has a son, Ty; a daughter, Danika; and four beautiful grandchildren, Aries, Victoria, Maya, and Tobias.
Besides reading and writing, she also enjoys photography, travel, music, and great  movies.
 
 
Susan Burdorf is an avid reader,
photographer and lover of all things sparkly. Writing is a passion that is only quenched when THE END is written on the last page of a manuscript. Nothing says home to her, though, like the presence of
her family. Susan encourages you to correspond with her and is available for public appearances at schools and conferences.
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A librarian and researcher by day,
Claire O’Dare writes Regency and contemporary romances at night.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Follow the tour HERE
for exclusive content and two giveaways!
 
Giveaway #1 
Kindle tablet ( 1 winner), Signed book (1 winner) , $20 Amazon (4 winners)
 

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Giveaway #2
Enter to win a Gift Basket of Austen-Themed Prizes!
 
 
 
 

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

You can find a list of my reviews HERE.

For a list of free eBooks go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

I am an Amazon Affiliate. Product images are linked.